The present invention relates generally to laundry feeding machines. In particular, an apparatus and method for feeding laundry articles to a spreader apparatus is provided.
In commercial laundry facilities, laundry articles, such as bed sheets, table linens, blankets, or the like are fed into a flatwork ironer and/or automatic folder after being washed. In order to obtain a neatly folded and unwrinkled laundry article, the laundry article should be presented to the ironer and/or folder with no wrinkles or folds and with the leading edge square.
One method for presenting the sheets with no folds employs operators to manually spread the sheet apart and to place the sheet in the ironer or folder by hand. However, the use of operators tends to slow the output of laundry processing equipment and can lead to inaccurate and inconsistent placement of the sheet. In addition, accurate placement of the sheet depends on the skill of the operators, so fatigued operators may increase costs.
To overcome the difficulties in using manual spreading, modem laundry facilities use automatic spreader-feeder machines. One machine of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,810, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. These spreader-feeder machines typically include a continuous moving feed conveyor on which the sheets are automatically laid with their leading edges perpendicular to the conveyor belts. In order to position the sheet for placement onto the conveyor, a pair of spreading clamps are typically employed to grip opposing top corners of the sheet. A user manually inserts the corners into the clamps. The spreading clamps are then moved apart by one or more endless belts or cables to spread the sheet. Once the sheet is spread, the spreading clamps release the corners of the sheet, and the upper portion of the sheet is forced onto the conveyor. The conveyor then advances the sheet to the ironer or other processing equipment.
One disadvantage of many spreader-feeder machines is the time required for the operator to isolate the corners of the sheet and load these corners into the clamps. A spreader-feeder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,627, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, overcomes this disadvantage. The user merely isolates an edge and feeds the edge in between pinch rollers. The spreader-feeder machine then isolates the corners and spreads the sheet.